What a day! The 11 Emory students in our group, plus two wonderful Emory professors, arrived in Puerto Rico yesterday evening and ate a traditional meal of mofongo, which is a mix of fried green plantains and, in our case, shrimp. We also sampled some conch meat — you know, the creature inside the shell you hold up to your ear and listen to the ocean with. What a treat!

 

 

Today was our one “free day” of the week, and we packed in as many Puerto Rican activities as possible. We started in the Yunque National Forest, southeast of San Juan. We hiked through the jungle and splashed around in waterfalls. We drank homemade lemonade and got amazing views of the country from atop a fire lookout tower.

 

We ended the day with a swim in the ocean, some snorkeling, and fried fish and ceviche. We practiced our Espanol and are resting up in our Salvation Army dorms for tomorrow’s activities — let the service learning begin!